Chapter 8
by LhaoziChapter 8: Trouble Breeds with Delay [1]
In front of the door to the somewhat scruffy thatched cottage grew a large cluster of brightly blooming flowers and ornamental plants.
Peonies, Chinese roses, devil’s ivy, and cacti—they were undeniably the exact varieties Qin Xi had bought!
In the pond by the door, which had upgraded from the water well, vivid pink water lilies bloomed striking on the water’s surface.
Beneath the green lotus leaves, small yellow-and-red fish swam back and forth playfully.
At the bottom of the water, small stream pebbles just a few centimeters across were visible.
Qin Xi understood in an instant.
The emergence of these new materials and landscapes truly required the natural elements she collected to form!
She suddenly began to look forward to the day when living people could enter the space!
For dinner, they had the Sichuan Boiled Fish and Tomato Fish that Qin Xi brought back.
Taking a bite of fish meat, Qin Xi told Qin Song about her encounter with Chen Liang. After finishing, she outlined her plan:
“As soon as the zombie virus breaks out, we’ll go find him—just so trouble doesn’t breed with delay.”
After listening, Qin Song nodded:
“Alright.”
He placed a dried scallop into Qin Xi’s bowl, his voice calm:
“Tomorrow I’ll head over to Zhao Yuhao’s place to scope things out first.”
Hearing this, Qin Xi nodded:
“Then be careful.”
After dinner, Qin Xi could finally rest.
Since the cold drinks ordered via delivery and a batch of water purchased by Qin Song were arriving tonight, both decided to sleep right at the warehouse.
Qin Song had dragged back a two-meter double bed from somewhere and set it up behind the box truck.
He had also hung a black curtain to block the view.
Lying on the bed, Qin Xi calculated what else she needed to buy tomorrow.
Food, clothing, and daily necessities were almost fully stocked.
What was still missing were pharmaceuticals, gasoline, vehicles for transport, books to pass the time, and various miscellaneous items—along with the items required for her system upgrade.
This system upgrade required 100 element points, and duplicates were allowed.
In other words, the few types of element points she had submitted today could be added again.
However, based on the two potted plants from earlier, flower elements had already contributed Chinese roses and peonies—counting as two duplicate element points.
If she submitted more, she could only submit eight more types of flowers.
Calculating it this way, including the other elements, she really only needed to find a dozen or so more types of elements.
Still, a dozen or so weren’t that easy to think of on the spot.
Qin Xi mused that she should write down whatever came to mind first.
With so many people delivering goods tomorrow, the warehouse couldn’t be left unattended.
She discussed it with Qin Song: he would go out first tomorrow morning to buy all the element points required by the system, and in the afternoon, Qin Song would head out again.
Now, Qin Xi handed the list she had drawn up to Qin Song:
“Big Brother, think about whether you know anyone who can buy raw, unprocessed mineral ores. Not many—one or two pieces of each type is enough. My system upgrade needs them.”
Qin Song was assembling a solar panel.
Putting down the tools in his hands, he took the list Qin Xi handed over and glanced through it.
He saw that most of the items highlighted were raw ores like gold ore and iron ore.
He let out a light chuckle and handed the list back to Qin Xi:
“I know where to get those. I’ll make a phone call tomorrow morning to have someone deliver them.”
Qin Xi’s eyes lit up!
With Qin Song’s word, there was nothing to worry about!
It was now past 8:00 PM, and the cold drinks Qin Xi pre-ordered began arriving one after another.
Qin Song shooed Qin Xi to the back to rest while he handled the incoming cargo upfront.
Qin Xi didn’t argue much.
Although she could lie on the bed, it didn’t mean she could actually rest.
She still had system tasks to complete.
For this system upgrade, besides needing 100 element points, she also had to sow one mu [2] of wheat and mine one ton of coal.
Qin Xi chose to plant the wheat first.
She spent 3 points in the System Mall to buy a batch of wheat seeds.
Though she couldn’t enter the space in person yet, her mind could automatically simulate the farming actions.
First, hoe the land with a hoe, then smooth it out with a rake, and finally use the hoe to carve out furrows, scatter seeds, and cover them with soil.
As time ticked away, Qin Xi worked up a heavy sweat.
In her mental visualization, she collapsed onto the ridge of the field during breaks, completely unable to move a muscle.
Meanwhile, in the real world…
When the last batch of bottled mineral water was unloaded tonight, it was already 11:00 PM.
Qin Song saw off the driver, closed the warehouse shutter, and walked over—only to see Qin Xi leaning against the headboard, her eyes fixed blankly on a point ahead, her cheeks flushed bright red, and her forehead drenched in sweat.
“Xixi?“
Qin Song stood by the bed and called out to her, but received no response.
He quickly realized what she was doing.
Yet his gaze darkened even further.
While having a system after rebirth was a good thing, if upgrading it was going to be this exhausting every time, it was far too grueling!
Inside the system space, Qin Xi finally backfilled the last bit of soil.
After finishing, she could barely move.
Fortunately, the soil moisture inside the system was sufficient, so there was no need to water it immediately.
Otherwise, she felt she wouldn’t get a single wink of sleep tonight!
At the same time, a system notification prompt chimed by her ear:
[Ding—1 mu of wheat sown. Reward: 10 Points.]
Qin Xi’s eyes brightened. So completing individual sub-tasks granted rewards too?
This meant she now had 27 system points!
Qin Xi felt a surge of joy again!
She had already checked the System Mall during the day.
The items in the mall were wide-ranging and varied.
Not only were there items that could be brought out for use in the real world, but there were also functional features that could be used inside the system space.
For example, one-click sowing, one-click harvesting, and the like.
It was just that these automated functions were too expensive, and she couldn’t afford them yet.
Besides, what interested her right now wasn’t those functions.
She had discovered that she could actually purchase additional spatial area!
Just 5 points per square meter.
Although she didn’t have many points now, it was better than nothing!
However, she didn’t plan to make a purchase right away.
With 27 points, she could only buy 5 square meters of storage space. Qin Xi intended to wait until the system upgraded again tomorrow to see.
What if the upgraded space size tomorrow was already sufficient?
With that thought in mind, she finally withdrew her consciousness from the system.
The instant she withdrew, a wave of intense soreness surged through her entire body. Her eyelids felt so heavy she couldn’t open them, and her head throbbed with a splitting headache!
She quickly realized this was mental exhaustion combined with physical fatigue from manual labor within the system.
But at this moment, she had no strength left to think deeper into it.
She didn’t even have the energy to lie down properly.
Not until she felt herself being lifted up and laid flat on the bed, with a familiar, cool, crisp scent reaching her nose.
Qin Xi’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz:
“Big Brother… give me a painkiller… head hurts… won’t be able to get up tomorrow…”
As soon as her words fell, she felt the person beside her pause for a long moment before a deep, quiet response came:
“Alright.”
Looking at the girl who was too exhausted to even speak yet still obsessed with the thought of getting up tomorrow morning, Qin Song felt both amused and exasperated.
Yet following that was pure helplessness.
If it weren’t for the impending apocalypse, how could his Xixi ever have to suffer like this?
Footnotes
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Trouble breeds with delay (夜長夢多 – yè cháng mèng duō): A traditional Chinese idiom that literally translates to “a long night brings many dreams.” It means that the longer something is delayed, the more likely unexpected problems, complications, or bad turns of events will occur.
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